


Wingman

by Matril



Category: Lizzie Bennet Diaries
Genre: Does there need to be any other reason, F/M, Fitz is just awesome
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-12
Updated: 2013-08-13
Packaged: 2017-12-23 06:27:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/923081
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Matril/pseuds/Matril
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two-part story of how Fitz redeems himself as Darcy's wingman.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The D-Man

**Author's Note:**

> Short, fluffy, and plenty of Fitz. First chapter from Fitz's viewpoint; second from Lizzie's.

Something really weird was going on with Darcy.

Fitz considered himself a pretty reliable Darcy-oligist when it came to interpreting his friend's understated emotions. He knew when he was pleased with something; he knew when he was disappointed or annoyed. He knew his proud look and his angry look. He knew when he was devastated. (That he had only seen twice – once because of Darcy's parents, and once because of what happened to Gigi.) The difference between his moods was usually something really subtle, like a raised eyebrow, a furrow in his forehead, or a slight downturn or upcurve of his mouth. The guy didn't exactly wear his heart on his sleeve. Fitz considered it no small accomplishment that he'd learned how to read him so well.

But when Darcy came back from his summer vacation with the Lees (not that Darcy really ever took a vacation; Fitz expected he probably spent the bulk of it bent over his laptop, ignoring things like sunshine and fun) there was something on his face that Fitz couldn't read at all.

He was distracted, that was clear enough. Darcy had always been the kind of guy who took a while to answer questions, weighing his words carefully before speaking. Now, though, it seemed like he didn't even hear the question. Having a conversation with him was like yelling at someone through a fog.

One time Fitz thought he had figured it out when he caught Darcy at his computer, peering at someone's Facebook page. Darcy _never_ went on Facebook, calling it "a shameless parading of one's personal affairs," but there he was, scanning an album of photos. Fitz, getting a peek of Bing's face in one of the pictures, asked, "That from this summer?"

Darcy closed the browser window in a flash, whirling around with a red face as if he'd been caught looking at nudes. "Yes, just – a party," he said very rapidly, chin practically disappearing into his neck. "Bing hosted a number of parties at Netherfield. They were very tiresome. Lots of noise and crowded rooms."

"Yeah…probably lots of pretty girls too. You hate those, right?"

Darcy cleared his throat and smoothed his tie and finally said, "I have little patience for silly women. It doesn't matter how they look."

So the guy had finally fallen for someone. Took him long enough. Now Fitz would just have to ferret out whether Darcy and this girl had hooked up, or if he was unrequitedly pining away like some melodramatic hero from another century.

Then Fitz started digging, and Darcy's response made him doubt his conclusion all over again.

Every time Fitz asked a question about the summer, Darcy flinched. Not in a good kind of way. Scowling more than smiling, like he was remembering a bad stomachache. He usually tried to evade the inquisition and change the subject, but after Fitz had persisted for a week or two, he actually got angry. "I have tried to be patient," he snapped, "but that is enough. It was not a pleasant excursion. I would rather not relive any of it."

"Wow. Sorry."

Darcy took a breath. "I am sorry. I have been difficult, I know. Our time at Netherfield….ended badly. Bing had managed to entangle himself in another romantic disaster."

"Yikes. Worse than Annette?" Fitz asked. He didn't throw around the word _gold-digger_ very often, but she was one girl who definitely deserved it.

"Unfortunately, yes. She was not so calculating as that, but her mother - well, suffice it to say, Bing would have been badly hurt if it had gone on any further. It took a great deal of persuading to get him away. I believe he'll get over the infatuation now that he's separated from her. If only others were so fortunate," he added in a murmur that Fitz barely caught.

Okay, this was just plain weird. Fitz didn't ask Darcy about it anymore, but he kept looking for clues. He talked to Gigi, and she could only confirm that her brother was acting weird and wouldn't tell her anything. "If you can figure it out, _please_ tell me," she said over the phone. "You don't think he's –" Her voice faltered. "Still mad at me?"

"Come on, Gigi D! He was never mad at you, just worried. You know that. And this isn't about that, anyway. Trust me. Something happened this summer."

"Yeah. Okay."

Fitz didn't expect the answer would come in the form of a trip to Collins and Collins.

He was confused when Darcy forwarded him an email from his Aunt Catherine urging her nephew to come and evaluate her latest investment. _I believe there may be some value in taking a look at this_ , Darcy wrote. Fitz just stared at the message in disbelief. Darcy had been fending off his aunt's requests for months now, dismissing them as a waste of his valuable time. "This company specializes in inane tutorial videos and tawdry reality programming," he had said. But now, _Some value in taking a look at this_? What was going on?

Fitz didn't object to it himself. These kind of company evaluations were fluff work, leaving a lot of free time for fun. It was close enough to San Francisco that Brandon could take a day or two off work and join him. Practically a vacation, and getting paid for it? Yeah, he could deal with that. He just wanted to know what was up with Darcy's sudden interest.

Just before they left for Collins and Collins, Fitz thought he figured it out. Again. Catherine sent out three more emails to bring them up to date on every little detail of the company, and among loads of other boring stuff, she mentioned that this Ricky Collins guy had recently gotten himself a business partner by the name of Charlotte Lu. And she just happened to come from Collins's hometown, which Fitz just happened to recognize as the same place where Darcy had spent his summer.

"Gotcha," Fitz muttered.

They arrived on a Sunday, so Fitz was counting on a free afternoon before they had to get to work. He'd forgotten that a little thing like the weekend wouldn't keep Catherine de Bourgh from scheduling an afternoon of meetings. They went straight from the airport to Catherine's offices and spent a full hour listening to Catherine drone on while Collins, a weird little guy, nodded eagerly and hung on her every word. As for Charlotte, she seemed like a smart, competent type with near-endless patience. And Darcy was definitely not in love with her.

He'd greeted her with an absent nod and, "I hope your family is well." He didn't look at her once for the rest of the meeting, during which he spoke even less than usual. Since Fitz was sitting next to him, he noticed Darcy's foot tapping restlessly against the floor. Was he bored? Fitz sure was, but Darcy usually didn't show emotions like that.

Catherine was finally forced to stop when her voice went hoarse. While she took a long drink of water, Fitz took the chance to say, "Hey, it all sounds great. I can't wait to check out the offices tomorrow."

Collins perked up and said, "An excellent notion! But there's no need to wait. I will be happy to accompany you there immediately and offer you a full tour of the entire premises –"

"Or, if you prefer to have a break, we can do it first thing tomorrow," Charlotte said smoothly. "There's no rush. I was planning on picking up dinner with Lizzie. She's waiting at the offices right now."

"I would be interested in seeing the offices today," Darcy said with sudden energy. Fitz stared at him.

"Lizzie Bennet is a friend of mine from back home," Charlotte explained to Fitz, not batting an eye at Darcy's weird outburst. "She's shadowing the company as part of her graduate studies."

"Cool," Fitz said, immediately forming a new theory. So Darcy hadn't been bored during the meeting – well, maybe he was that too – but his restlessness, it seemed, had come from impatience. And suddenly Fitz was impatient too. "Hey, let's go ahead and check the place out. Sounds like it could be fun."

Collins beamed, practically flying out his seat in excitement. "Then let us proceed there at once!"

Charlotte just put on a long-suffering smile. Darcy, meanwhile, would have looked impassive to a casual observer, but Fitz could see the slight twitch at the corners of his mouth. Wow. This Lizzie must have really gotten to him.

They arrived at the offices, and Collins launched straight into an enthusiastic monologue as he led them down the first hallway. Darcy clearly didn't hear a word of it, his eyes darting from one empty office to the next.

When Collins was finally forced to stop and take a breath, Charlotte grabbed the chance to say, "So, I'm going to go and let Lizzie know we're here."

Darcy turned from the last office he was peering into, mouth moving wordlessly as if his vocal chords had been removed. Fitz took pity on him and came to the rescue.

"Hey, I'd like to meet her. Tell her Darcy wants to say hi. Don't you?" He nudged Darcy, who gave up trying to talk and just gave a curt nod.

"Okay," Charlotte said, holding back what might have been amusement.

They were forced to stand and listen to another flood of babble from Collins while they waited, but Fitz was too intrigued by the change in Darcy to be annoyed this time. He didn't even try to conceal his impatience at this point. Fidgeting, eyes roving. Darcy, who could usually win a staring contest with a statue.

"…and that, as your aunt so astutely enumerated, is one of the many crucial components of creating successful content…" Collins didn't seem remotely aware that Darcy was ignoring him at his point, his eyes turned instead on two figures who were just turning the corner at the far end of the hallway. Unfazed, Collins called out, "Ah, Miss Lu! Miss Bennet! I was just elaborating on Ms. de Bourgh's excellent –"

"Hi, Darcy," said Lizzie Bennet as she and Charlotte reached him. Fitz hung back, deciding he wanted to watch from a distance to get a good look at both Lizzie and Darcy's reaction to her.

Lizzie was pretty, not glamorous or drop-dead gorgeous, but whatever. Darcy said It doesn't matter how they look, and he was the kind of guy who really meant it. So what was so great about her? Her smile seemed a little strained, though maybe that was just because Collins was still trying to finish his tortuously long sentence.

Darcy, meanwhile, was in even deeper than Fitz had thought. He hadn't stopped looking at Lizzie since she first appeared, and he still hadn't said a word. Man. This guy could run a whole company, but he couldn't talk to a girl he liked? "Hello, Lizzie," he finally said, stiff and short. He cleared his throat and managed to ask, "How is your family?"

Lizzie's smile remained, but her eyes said something else. Fitz wasn't sure what. "They're all right," she said, pleasantly enough. "You know. Lots of changes lately."

Darcy nodded. Lizzie was clearly expecting him to say something, but she gave up waiting and went on, "Speaking of that, you know, Jane got a job in L.A. I don't suppose you ever ran into her while you were there with Bing and Caroline?"

A blink. "Uh. No. I – didn't."

"Oh."

Yikes. Fitz came to the rescue, approaching Lizzie and sticking out his hand. "Hey, I'm Fitz."

She accepted the handshake and gave him a smile that went all the way to her eyes. "Hi."

"Fitz is my friend and business associate," Darcy managed for an introduction, however belatedly. "We've come to monitor corporate progress at Collins and Collins."

"Yes," Collins exclaimed, clapping his hands together and somehow managing to push his way into the middle of the group. "And so you shall! If you'll follow me, I'll be delighted to continue our tour of the offices."

Darcy looked truly pained. Time for another rescue. Fitz put on his most disarming smile and said, "Yeah, about that – I didn't notice how late it was. I'm supposed to meet the BF for dinner in half an hour. Hey, you ladies want to join us?" he directed at Charlotte and Lizzie.

"Uh, sure," Lizzie said after glancing at Charlotte. "Sounds fun."

"Darcy?" Fitz gave him a meaningful look. But his stupid friend just shook his head.

"My apologies. I have – business to attend to."

So he practically handed Darcy a dinner date with Lizzie – okay, a group date, but still – on a silver platter, and he was chickening out? What was going on with this dude?

Lizzie slipped back down the hallway to finish whatever she had been in the middle of, while Charlotte placated Collins with the promise that they'd finish the tour first thing the next morning. Fitz took the chance to mutter to Darcy, "Business to attend to? Really?"

"I promise Gigi I would call her tonight."

"That's not going to take all evening."

Darcy grimaced. "Perhaps not. But I – I am not in the mood for social interaction at the moment."

"Huh. And that wouldn't have anything to do with the people I just invited to dinner?"

A definite flush spread over Darcy's face. "Fitz, please –"

"Don't worry, man," Fitz said. "I've got your back."

Before Darcy could reply, Collins came over to "bid them adieu until the morrow." Seriously, where did Catherine find this guy? This was going to be a weird couple of weeks.

But tons of fun too, if Fitz's wingman skills had anything to do with it.

The next morning he met Darcy just outside Collins and Collins, and they started inside together. "So," Fitz said, "we had a totally terrific time last night." He gave Darcy a thumb's up. "You've chosen well, man. Lizzie is awesome."

Darcy's mouth twitched. "You're making assumptions."

Fitz snorted. "Come on. It's so obvious. It's the only thing that explains this 'business trip.' Like you'd really come here to analyze videos about how to turn on a light-switch."

Darcy stiffened, halting mid-step. "Are you implying that I'm wasting company time and resources on personal indulgences?"

"Uh, yeah. And that's _awesome_. I bet you've never taken a personal indulgence in your life. It's about time you did."

Whether Darcy was going to protest or admit Fitz was right, he was cut off by Collins's arrival and the resuming of their tour. But the next time Fitz brought up Lizzie, Darcy seemed to have given up trying to deny it. By then (Wednesday afternoon), Fitz had learned that he had his wingman work cut out for him. Lizzie really didn't have the greatest impression of Darcy. They'd met at the worst possible place for him, a noisy party full of strangers. It was going to take some serious damage control. But Fitz could handle it.

After coming back from lunch with Lizzie, Fitz showed up at the office Darcy was using at Collins and Collins and sat on his desk. "All right, let's talk strategy. When are you going to make your move, D-man?"

Darcy looked up from his computer screen with a frown. "Who said anything about making a move?"

"I did. And it's happening. We just have to figure out the right time and place."

"Fitz…" Darcy tapped his pen restlessly against the desk. "I may not want to make any overtures."

"Yeah. Sure. I've seen how you look at her."

Darcy's mouth pulled into a tight line. "Be that as it may," he finally said, "there are a number of objections. Many people in my life would question the appropriateness of such a – relationship."

"Uh, who cares? This is your life, right?"

Darcy only shrugged.

"So if you didn't come here to make a move," Fitz said, growing more and more exasperated, "why bother coming at all?"

Another long pause, and then Darcy answered in a low voice, "I just wanted to see her again."

"Wow." He really had it bad. "Okay, but you can't keep going on like this. Take a risk. Man, if I'd let my fears control me, I'd never be with Brandon. Don't you want to be happy?"

Darcy opened his mouth, shook his head, and stayed silent.

"You're going to do this. Oh, but not yet." At Darcy's questioning look Fitz went on, "I just need a few more days. Trust me."

"A few more days for what?" Darcy asked with a lifted eyebrow.

"Just trust me."

Darcy shouldn't have trusted him.

But then, Fitz couldn't entirely blame himself for being the worst wingman ever. Even if he had known Bing's ex was Lizzie's sister and kept his mouth shut about it, there wasn't much hope for a guy who opened his confession of love with a list of objections to the relationship. Oh, and making a confession of love before even asking her on a date? Darcy really didn't need much help shooting himself in the foot.

Somehow, Fitz would have to find a way to make it up to him. He'd just have to change tactics. And maybe find a wingman-ing partner.


	2. Lizzie B

Lizzie and Fitz had exchanged phone numbers way back when they first met at Collins and Collins, but she had only called him twice – to confirm their meeting time when they were getting together for lunch, and to ask if he'd be interested in helping with a care package (and maybe appearing in another video.)

After certain other events, his number went untouched.

It wasn't that she was mad at him. Really, the whole business with Darcy had her riding such an emotional roller coaster, she had nothing to spare for Fitz. And when he left Collins and Collins without so much as a _See ya, Lizzie B!_ , she kind of thought he might be mad at her. She still couldn't figure out how someone like Fitz had ever become friends with Darcy, but if he was siding with Darcy over the whole…incident, she couldn't fault him for being loyal. He'd only known her a few weeks, after all. Maybe Darcy had doomed her potential friendship with Fitz, or maybe she had sabotaged it all on her own. She was beginning to think she might have a gift for unintentional sabotage.

And then maybe she was kind of a terrible person, because she didn't give Fitz much thought over the next month or two. Or maybe she was just really, really overwhelmed with Darcy's letter and Ricky Collins trying to keeping Charlotte at work on Thanksgiving, and with coming home to learn her sort-of ex was in town and having to fend off Charlotte's prying questions about him, and with Jane asking even harder questions about Lizzie's own life choices and Lydia, oh, about a billion problems with Lydia. Sorry, Fitz. Kind of at the bottom of the list.

But after Charlotte told her why Pemberley Digital sounded familiar, and after several frantic, fruitless calls to Dr. Gardiner, Lizzie saw Fitz's name on her contact list and suddenly had a reason to think of him again.

Mostly because she was terrified, and Fitz, she remembered, had a way of making people feel at ease.

His voicemail picked up. "Uh, hi, Fitz," she said, in a sad attempt to keep her voice calm and casual. "It's been a while, huh? So….I don't know if you, uh, watch my videos, but maybe you know that I'm going to be shadowing Pemberley and I thought it might be nice to get back in touch. So. Talk to you soon?"

Ugh. She always left awkward voicemails.

He called back a few hours later, friendly and definitely not angry, so that was good. "Lizzie B!"

"Hey," she said. "Um."

"You are in for a _treat_ ," he said, and she could imagine the word accompanied by some wild gesture. "Pemberley is pretty much the pinnacle of perfection."

Lizzie found herself laughing even though she was still tensed for something; she wasn't even sure what. "Aren't you a little biased?"

"Yeah. Still true, though. You're coming here on Friday, right?"

She frowned. "Yes. How'd you know?"

"Uh, remember? Corner office, overlooking two bridges? I have connections."

"Whoa, whoa. Wait a minute. Connections?" Lizzie's tension heightened. "Did you _arrange_ my shadowing?"

He seemed to hesitate. "If I told you I was involved, would you do something scary and violent?"

She gritted her teeth and answered, "Maybe."

"Trust me, Lizzie, you will thank me once you get here. This place is like, custom-designed for you."

Her stomach was twisting up again – the nauseating combination of uncertainty and guilt that always came when she thought about Darcy lately. But she forced herself to ask the question. "And that wouldn't have anything to do with – um, the guy who runs the company?"

"Nope. I'm not touching that. Already got burned once."

Okay. That was kind of a relief. Though he could be lying. "Look, Fitz," she began, kind of apologetically, and he broke in at once.

"Yeah, that whole thing was a mess. I learned my lesson. I keep my mouth shut now."

It would probably be better for both of them if she just changed the topic. "So…you want to get together sometime while I'm there?"

"Definitely, Lizzie B. I'll have my people call yours."

She laughed again, and this one was much easier. "You know I don't have any people, right?"

With that first hurdle of awkwardness overcome, they called and texted each other fairly regularly over the next few weeks. They talked about San Francisco and Pemberley and her reports on the company and pretty much everything except Darcy.

Meanwhile, she was spending more and more of her free time thinking of little else.

She discovered it was much harder to conceal her inner thoughts while talking to Fitz in person. They met for lunch on Thursday, after Gigi's emotional video had gone up that morning, and Lizzie still couldn't shake the fear that Darcy would be unhappy she had exposed his sister's vulnerabilities to the entire Internet. She tried to greet Fitz with an enthusiastic smile, but it fell flat.

"Hey, you know you're awesome, don't you?" he said softly as they took their seats at the restaurant. "You helped Gigi. You gave her just what she needed."

"Did I?" Lizzie shrugged uncomfortably. "What if I just made it worse?"

"Nah. I know Gigi D. It helped; I could tell. She's amazing, huh?" he went on with fresh energy. "I told you."

"Oh, yeah. She's great." Lizzie kept her eyes down, fingering her napkin. "She and her brother are so different. Not that he's not great – um, I mean, you know." Better to shut up before anything worse escaped her mouth. She could feel her cheeks burning.

"They're not so different where it really matters. Both really loyal, caring, all that good stuff." She could hear a guarded note to his voice, careful not to push too hard. She appreciated it, but a part of her wanted him to go further, to tell her everything he knew about Darcy and maybe praise him a little more.

Instead she took a different, somewhat safer direction. Still without looking up she asked, "Do you think he'll be mad about the video?"

"He won't be mad at you, if that's what you mean."

Lizzie looked up in alarm. "Will he be mad at Gigi?"

Fitz rolled his eyes. "No. He'll be worried about her, 'cause that's what big brothers do. If he's mad, it'll be at the only person who deserves it."

"Oh."

"You know, the jerk who broke his sister's heart?"

"Right."

"Which was already true, so the video won't change anything there."

"Oh. Okay. All right." She was out of breath and disoriented, as if she'd been running and running from something only to turn around and find out nothing was there.

After the server came by and took their drink orders, Lizzie decided it was time to bite the bullet. "What about my other videos?" she said forthrightly.

"What about them?"

"Is Darcy mad at me because of the rest of my videos?"

Fitz actually snorted. "Seriously?"

"Yes, I'm serious," Lizzie said quietly, tracing an idle pattern along the grain of the table. "It's a valid question. I was really kind of vicious."

"Does he act like someone who's mad at you?"

"Well, no, but….maybe he's just being civil. Professional." Her eyes flicked nervously up to Fitz's face. "Has he said anything to you about –?"

"Oh, no." He put up his hands defensively. "I swore I wasn't going to touch this, and I'm standing by that. My lips are sealed."

She took a deep breath. Why did she keep feeling light-headed? "Fine. Sorry."

"You know," Fitz said, with a smile that might be termed mischievous, "I seem to remember some wise person saying that if there's something you want to know about someone, you should just ask them directly. 'At least it'll be _your_ not-good idea.' Right?"

Lizzie flushed. "That's not the same thing."

"Why not?"

She didn't have an answer.

"Okay, not going to push you on this one," Fitz said breezily. "Just please tell me you're not chickening out about this Saturday."

"Chickening out?" Lizzie said, affronted. "If I did decide not to go, it would _not_ be chickening out. But I'm going," she added. She wasn't about to miss the chance at a full day to examine the enigma that was William Darcy. To Fitz she only said, "San Francisco is a beautiful city. I'm sure I'll enjoy it."

"Mmm-hmm," he replied, far too smugly. It was like her thoughts were written in four-inch letters across her face.

Their drinks came, and Lizzie realized she had no idea what to order. Her menu lay untouched in front of her. Fitz came to the rescue with an enthusiastic recommendation for one of their trademark sandwiches, and after the server left he showed her mercy and changed the subject.

"So what are your plans for next week, oh shadower extraordinaire?"

Lizzie's laugh almost made her choke on her drink. "Thanks. Well, I've collected a lot of data already. I'm thinking I should start interviewing."

"Cool. I'm up for a chat if you need it."

"Thanks." She grinned. "It's nice to have connections."

"Better get used to it, Lizzie B. Mark my words," he wagged his finger at her, "you are going places. It won't be long before you're fighting off job offers with a stick."

She cocked her head. "Are you sure you're not talking about debt collectors?"

"Nope."

"Oookay." She had another sip of her drink as if to gather courage, then said, "I should probably – I mean, if I'm doing interviews, it would make sense to –"

"Have a word with the CEO of the company you're shadowing?" Fitz finished knowingly.

She sighed. "It would be super awkward, wouldn't it?"

"No," he answered, his face perfectly straight. "I'm sure you can both be civil. Professional."

Lizzie wished she had something to throw at him. She had to settle for sticking out her tongue.

"Seriously," Fitz said, "you should go for it. Your report will be a lot snazzier if it's got a couple of corporate interviews."

"I know. But what sort of questions could I ask? I don't want to get…." She squirmed. "Personal."

"It's not that complicated. You interviewed the guy at Collins and Collins, right?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes. "Yeah. I asked him one general sort of question and he went on for an hour about analytics and Internet-connected brethren and Catherine de Bourgh."

"See, that already makes it easier, because you know it won't be as bad as that. Ask Darcy how he runs the company. He'll give a normal answer. In less than an hour."

"But if we're talking about how he runs the company, then at some point it'll have to come up how he became CEO. And that's – that's really personal isn't it?" She looked at Fitz nervously. Studying Pemberley Digital's website, it was impossible not to intuit the unspoken tragedy lingering beneath the written words. Family legacies and memorial buildings – between that and what George Wickham had done, it was no wonder Darcy had trouble even cracking a smile.

"You don't have to worry about mentioning Darcy's parents," Fitz said, surprising her with his frankness. "He's gotten pretty thick-skinned." At Lizzie's questioning look he explained further. "He's dealt with interviewers who didn't care about being sensitive. Some pretty harsh critics."

Lizzie privately doubted any critic could be harsher on Darcy than she had been, but she just nodded. "It's none of my business," she said in a muted tone, "but I can't help thinking about it. What, um. What was he like before – before they died?"

Fitz gave it a moment, considering his answer carefully. "The same, mostly. Quiet, private. Super loyal and protective. I guess he got even more serious afterward. He had a lot of new responsibilities then. He practically raised Gigi after that, you know."

"Mmm." Lizzie tried to imagine if it were just her and Jane – or, even harder, just her and Lydia. Trying to take care of a little sister when she was barely an adult herself. It was a pretty sobering scenario.

"Hey." Fitz was leaning across the table, more solemn than she'd ever seen him. "You need to know something else about Darcy."

Her heart did a ridiculous flip-flop. "What is it?"

"He has a _wicked_ sense of humor."

Lizzie wasn't sure what she had expected, but it certainly wasn't this. She swallowed something strangely like disappointment and replied, "Uh…this is _Darcy_ we're talking about, right?"

"Oh yeah. Trust me. It's sneaky, comes out when you least expect it. That's what makes it so great."

She wasn't convinced. Darcy clearly had far more virtues than she once gave him credit for, but a sense of humor? A wicked sense of humor? "I'll…keep an eye out for it," she said with a dubious shake of the head.

Once their entrees arrived, the conversation was restricted to safe topics. Having mouths full of food wasn't too conducive to an intensely serious discussion. Lizzie couldn't say she was all that sorry. She wanted to talk about Darcy; she might even say she _longed_ to talk about Darcy if she used melodramatic words like that. But whenever she did talk about him, she was kind of torturing herself. It made her confused, curious, anxious, uncertain, ashamed, dreamy, bemused, sick to her stomach and giddy and tongue-tied and about a hundred other conflicting emotions all at the same dizzying moment.

So she relaxed into Fitz's hilarious imitation of one of his co-workers while she polished off her sandwich – as delicious as he promised – and pretended she didn't want to hear anything else about Darcy.

She had a very busy weekend.

She didn't hear from Fitz until Monday morning, when he sent her a single brief text after the video went up. _Told you so._ She was in such a good mood, she didn't even mind Fitz's triumph. She replied with a smiley face.

After she left Pemberley, Fitz kind of fell to the bottom of the list again. In the weeks after that site went down, Lizzie would pull up her contacts and get stuck staring at Darcy's number. If she thought of getting in touch with Fitz at all, it was only as a means to figure out what was going on with Darcy. And that wasn't fair. Fitz already made it clear he didn't want to be an awkward go-between.

She got really desperate and started making excuses. She could ask Fitz if he had anything to do with pulling down the website, and thank him profusely if that were the case. Darcy's name wouldn't even have to come up. But if it happened to come up, and if he happened to slip and drop some kind of hint about why Darcy had done it –

Nope. _Not me, Lizzie B._ That was all she got. She was forced, instead, to be direct – to call Darcy herself and make it _her_ not-good idea.

She really ought to thank Fitz for that.


End file.
